Congress wants Tiwari to take voluntary retirement

The Congress is trying to persuade former Andhra Pradesh governor N D Tiwari to take voluntary retirement from politics in the wake of his involvement in an alleged sex scandal.

The party's central leadership has already established contact with some of the state leaders to work out a plan for his retirement, saying it would be better if Tiwari took retirement on his own. "We don't want to see any disturbance in the 2012 elections in the hill state," a Congress leader said.

Though the party has not made any open statement in this regard, sources said a message had been conveyed to Tiwari in clear terms that the alleged scandal has come at a time when the Congress was celebrating its 125th anniversary.

The party has also not liked Tiwari's unilateral decision to settle down inside the campus of the prestigious Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, which is also being seen as a political interference into the functioning of scientists.

Scores of political leaders are meeting Tiwari every day inside the campus. "Tiwari ji should not stay in Dehradun. We want him to settle down somewhere in his native place in the Kumaon region away from the media glare," said the Congress leader.

However, Tiwari has so far remained defiant and has not taken any decision. The former Andhra Pradesh governor on Monday raised eyebrows by his assertion that he would not quit politics and chose to settle down in Dehradun on the request of state Congress President Yashpal Arya and other leaders, who are his staunch supporters.

Meanwhile, a possible clash here was averted following timely intervention by the party high command, which directed a section of the state Congress leaders not to gherao the office of a Dehradun-based nong governmental organisation.